Tom Rees of Epiphenom has an interesting post looking at the relationship between religious belief and medicine.
Specifically, the study Tom refers to looks at the effect of religious beliefs on medication taking, and it comes as no surprise to me that there may be a propensity for some of those of faith to be less likely to take their medicine.
She found that people who put themselves in God’s hands really were less likely to take their medicine.
Of course, the correlation between faith in God and medicinal compliance is far more sophisticated and nuanced than I have alluded to above.
Tom’s study is concerned with drugs for physical disease – HIV in this case – however, of more interest to me is whether this sort of result could be extrapolated for psychiatric drug taking.
From anecdotal and testimonial experiences, I would posit that there is indeed a correlation between faith in God and avoidance of psychiatric drugs, in fact, far more so than with physical medication.
Why would this be so?
Again, from anecdotal experiences and testimonies, there is a proclivity within some quarters of the Christian world to attribute mental – or personality – abnormalities to a lack of faith, or even – within charismatic circles – demon oppression / possession.
The infiltration of the “wealth & health prosperity gospel” is also to blame, and I have blogged previously on this here.
If you perceive that I exaggerate, then be advised that whilst pondering and writing this post, I noted an article published today over at Everyday Christian, which details a Christian family’s response to Bipolar Disorder:
It begins thusly, with some highlighting by me:
When our daughter’s first case worker appeared at our door we were sceptic. What did he know about the battles of the mind? I was convinced that all she needed was prayer, and God would do the rest. I forgot that God often uses man to accomplish his purpose.
The case worker had more patience with us than I did with him. I’m sure he had dealt with families like ours before, but he was very polite in his dealings with us. Samantha didn’t think she needed him and we agreed.
It wasn’t until she had had several breaks that she got another worker on her case. By then I had learned to accept any help with my daughter as a blessing, but I still wouldn’t have believed that the case worker would be God’s angel (messenger) to answer our prayers.
When Samantha had her first break she thought someone was tampering with her mind and was suspicious of any drugs. Her father and I were also very suspicious of the use of drugs in dealing with the mind, and so, she came home without medication.
Thankfully, Samantha is now taking her medication and the article concludes:
Samantha has gone several years now without a break. She has a good job, working in the mental health field. She is living for God, seeking His will for her life.
To all those who work in the mental health field, I want to say that we appreciate you. Thank you all for your patience. May God bless you.
I want end this post with a fortuitous discovery.
Yesterday – through Twitter – I happened upon Gene Anderson’s Rucksack Revolution blog. Gene is a pastor and also bipolar. His blog is the most ‘normal’, insightful, balanced, and encouraging blog I’ve come across charting faith and mental illness.
And so I will conclude with Gene’s words of wisdom, taken from his blog post entitled: Bipolar? Nail it to the cross…
God does not call us to deny our issues. But he does call us to nail them to the cross, much like the image at the top of this post. We are crucified with Christ. We are a new creation. We are somebody and we matter to the Lord Almighty.
But for God’s sake, don’t buy into quacks, false prophets, “word of faith” healers and such ilk. I’m not saying that divine healing and miracles don’t exist.
They do. I’ve experienced one first hand, related to the birth of my daughter.
But beware. Take your meds. Remember your condition.
And listen for the Word of God.
Amen, and make sure you follow Gene’s blog.
